Conservation News Protecting Open Space on Long Island’s North Shore NORTH SHORE LAND ALLIANCE Board of Trustees Volume 10, Issue 19 Carter Bales, Chair Spring /Summer 2014 John Bralower, Vice-Chair Hal Davidson, Vice-Chair Hoyle Jones, Vice-Chair Luis Rinaldini, Vice-Chair Rosemary Bourne, Treasurer Hollis Russell, Secretary Peter Bartley Matthew Bruderman Frank Castagna Gilbert Chapman Leland Deane Augusta Donohue Nancy Douzinas George Eberle Max Geddes Lynn Gray David Holmes Nancy Kelley Warren Kraft Tom Lieber Bridget Macaskill Patrick Mackay Tom McGrath Clarence Michalis Jonathan Moore Peter Quick Patsy Randolph Julie Rinaldini The field at the top of the DeForest Williams property Larry Schmidlapp Ray Schuville Frank Segarra DeForest Williams Challenge Grant Met - Hope Smith Zach Taylor Paula Weir $330,000 To Go Peri Wenz Tom Zoller We are very pleased to report that completion of the Campaign to Acquire the 32-Acre Trustee Emeritus Danny Davison DeForest Williams Property in Cold Spring Harbor is drawing near. Our community has done Advisory Board something quite wonderful here and we are so close to the finish line. Among government, Myron Blumenfeld Ann Cannell foundations and private individuals – WE HAVE RAISED $8,170,000 TOWARD THIS Judith Chapman Katusha Davison $8,500,000 PURCHASE! Mark Fasciano Louise Harrison Erik Kulleseid Most notably, on May 31st, we met the $500,000 dollar-for-dollar, matching grant Neal Lewis Robert Mackay opportunity extended to us in late February by an exceedingly helpful anonymous donor. Sarah Meyland Barry Osborn But, we are not there yet ... we still have $330,000 to go to complete the entire transaction! Peter Schiff John Turner Richard Weir As an added incentive to donors, the Land Alliance has developed a naming rights program Staff Lisa Ott, President/CEO which allows generous donors to endow the stewardship of a beautiful tree, install a native Julie Davidson, Senior pollinator garden, plant a small orchard of fruit trees or purchase a bench to honor a family Development Officer Directors: member or friend. Naming opportunities range from $10,000 to $250,000. To date, we have Jane Jackson, Stewardship Carol Schmidlapp, Events sold the right to name the main trail head, the planting of one of two small fruit tree orchards Stephen Searl, Conservation Mimi DeSena, Finance Manager and a trailside bench. Andrea Millwood, Development Associate (Continued on pg. 3) Dear Land Alliance Friends, The working group of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently issued preliminary findings from two of three reports that will be finalized this fall. The first report concluded that “warming of the climate is unequivocal.” The second report confirmed that sea level is rising from melting ice caps, water supplies are coming under stress, extreme weather events are more frequent, coral reefs are dying, the world’s food supply is at considerable risk as are our oceans and forests and we are seeing the extinction of flora and fauna. Further, the New York Times in its review of the IPCC reports stated, “the worst is yet to come.” Long Island, like the rest of the world, is facing very serious environmental challenges. Yet we are different in that we are an “island,” surrounded by saltwater and sitting on top of a sole-source freshwater aquifer, which means we will be forced to face these challenges sooner than many other locations. Last fall, a week-long series in Newsday began on September 24th with “Pollution and LI’s Water: Island’s sole source aquifer lies beneath 254 Superfund toxic waste sites,” documenting the most pressing issues facing Long Island. Issues in subsequent articles included pollution from septic systems, aging sewer plants and storm water runoff, pumping too much water out of the aquifer for irrigation and higher levels of manganese found near facilities processing vegetative waste. Just as concerning, Newsday recently reported that New York City plans to reopen 52 of its 68 shuttered wells in Queens, pumping millions of gallons of drinking water from the aquifer under Long Island -- a move that some policymakers and environmentalists say could harm Nassau County’s access to its only source of water. The City’s plan, known as “Water for the Future,” calls for more than a billion dollars in repairs to its aqueduct system (the tunnels that transport water from upstate reservoirs). While the system is under construction, the City intends to offset shortfalls by pumping 33 million gallons per day from the aquifer system under Long Island. For perspective, Nassau draws about 170 million gallons per day, so the City’s plan would instantaneously compound that strain by withdrawing an additional 20% daily. Most experts agree that the City’s pumping will cause “increased saltwater intrusion on the county’s north and south shores, a shift in the direction of underground plumes of contamination, and a general drawdown of the aquifer system.” Sarah Meyland, Land Alliance Advisory Board member and director of the Center for Water Resources Management at the New York Institute of Technology, observed, “As soon as those wells come on, you’re going to increase the natural loss of water from Nassau into the Queens part of the aquifer system. The City will be de facto taking Nassau water once they turn those wells on.” While these issues are dire, it is encouraging that so many people in both the public and private sectors are rallying to find a suite of solutions that will fix the problem before it is too late. In this issue of Conservation News, we will highlight some of the good work that is being done and the people who are leading the charge. And you, as land conservationists, know conserving land is an essential part of the solution, which includes providing groundwater recharge areas, filtering harmful stormwater from beaches and bays, hosting trees that cool our houses and clean our air and growing local food that reduces the need to transport food from far away. We have great hope for the future of our community because we are working with all of you to protect it! Carter F. Bales, Chairman 2 Conservation News - Spring/Summer 2014 DeForest Williams (Continued from page 1) Once this property has been acquired, which we expect to happen in August, it will be co-owned by Suffolk County, Town of Huntington and North Shore Land Alliance. The property will be called the Wawapek Preserve and will be maintained by the Land Alliance as a passive use preserve (the Town’s most restrictive park designation). Wawapek Farm was the original name of the property occupied by the DeForest and Williams families for more than 100 years. Wawapek Preserve will be open to our community from sunup to sundown. A split rail fence and gate will mark the entrance to the property, in keeping with its residential location on Spring Hill Road. A plaque listing all donors will also be installed at the entrance. A small pervious-surface parking lot will be constructed inside the gate to avoid street parking. It is our hope that in time (and with a stewardship endowment), the Land Alliance will be able to continuously improve the habitat value of this magical place. Thanks again for your generous, past support and what we hope will be future support in creating a natural place that will bring peace, joy and beauty to the local community. Once the official closing has taken place, the Land Alliance cordially invites all neighbors and donors to join us in celebration of this community triumph. A workshop with neighbors of the Preserve will also be held to plan for future use. DeForest Williams Naming Opportunities Welcoming Entrance/ Fencing $250,000 and Garden Main Trail Head (SOLD) $100,000 Parking Area $100,000 Spur Trail $50,000 Tree Stewardship-Evergreens and $40,000 Specimen Trees Pollinator/Wildflower Gardens $30,000 (2 Available) Small Flowering Tree Orchards $25,000 (1 SOLD, 1 Available) Large Garden Benches (4 Available) $15,000 Trail Benches (2 available, 1 SOLD) $10,000 For additional information or to take advantage of a naming opportunity, please contact Lisa Ott at 516-626-0908. Copper Beech tree at the DeForest Williams property Conservation News - Spring/Summer 2014 3 Protecting Land Protects Water One of the most important reasons to protect land on Long Island is to protect our water, both drinking water and surface water like beaches, bays and ponds. Long Islanders are fortunate to have their own drinking water source, underground aquifers created hundreds of thousands of years ago by the glaciers that moved through this region. Permeable surfaces, such as open land, are necessary for rain and snow to be absorbed and make their way downward to replenish the aquifer. Water is cleaned along the way as it passes through layers of silt, sand and gravel before it reaches its destination. In an effort to protect Long Island’s aquifers, unique in New York State, nine Special Groundwater Protection Areas (SGPAs) were designated in the early 80′s. These areas, also known as the Deep Flow Recharge Areas, represent the headwaters of the system and are the most important areas to protect. Two SGPAs, North Hills and Oyster Bay, are located in the Land Alliance’s designated area and their boundaries represent the heart of the Land Alliance’s priority conservation area. Long Islanders are also very fortunate to enjoy 1,180 miles of shoreline. Our coastal areas provide us with beautiful scenic vistas and extraordinary recreational opportunities. They also support a vibrant fishing industry and attract tourists at a rate of more than five million per year, generating millions of dollars of support for our local economy.